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Shovels, skis or a wedding: tales from a snowstorm

By The Associated Press

Posted:
02/09/2013 01:11:09 PM MST

Updated:
02/09/2013 07:54:59 PM MST

Click photo to enlarge

Patrick Cramphorn places an "Open" flag outside the P.I. Beachcoma Restaurant in Newburyport, Mass., Saturday, Feb. 9, 2013, as snow winds down in Plum Island. A behemoth storm packing hurricane-force wind gusts and blizzard conditions swept through the Northeast on Saturday, dumping more than 2 feet of snow on New England and knocking out power to 650,000 homes and businesses.

From New Jersey to Maine, millions of people, many with Superstorm Sandy still fresh in their minds, dug out from underneath mounds of snow Saturday.

Many were left with serious consequences. Hundreds of thousands lost power, and on New York's Long Island, abandoned cars littered the roadways, left by people who could not make it home Friday night as the storm intensified.

Others simply had a few inches to clear from their cars and sidewalks. But mostly, people soldiered on, planning cocktail hours after clearing waist-high snow, cross-country skiing down narrow streets and even braving 4-inch stiletto heels to stay chic during New York Fashion Week. A few of their stories:

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Randle Roper and Jacob Olson have been waiting for a blizzard for a long, long time.

Roper, 41, and Olson, 31, moved to downtown Providence, R.I., from Los Angeles two years ago.

"We've been waiting for this snow forever," Roper said.

The two spent days waiting with childlike excitement for the storm, hoping to use the snow boogieboards they bought when they heard there would be substantial snowfall.

"We're looking for the perfect hill," said Olson, who grew up in the Marshall Islands and is completely unfamiliar with snow.

"I love it," he said. "It's so much fun."

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Karen Willis Beal got her dream wedding Saturday—complete with a snowstorm just like the one that hit before her parents married in December 1970.

"This is what I've wished for all my life," Beal said afterward.

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The storm kept some guests from making it to the church-turned-restaurant in Portland, Maine, where the ceremony was performed. But she was still happy she got her storm.

"Weather be damned, it's been a great day," said her husband, Greg Beal, of Manchester, N.H.

The happy couple even took some outdoor photos, including one at a lighthouse where they used a sled as a prop.

"The gusts were enough to knock you off balance," Greg Beal said.

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In other snowbound wedding news, Kathryn Jussaume, 30, of Lowell, found that a pair of snowshoes was a nice complement to her stunning strapless gown for her nuptials to Jason Destroismaison, 32, of Tyngsboro.

Earlier in the day, she confessed to some jitters when she awoke on her wedding day and the snow was so deep she couldn't see her mailbox.

"I started to get a little bit nervous," Jussaume said Saturday afternoon. "But Jason was cool as a cucumber."

She set out to shovel after her snow blower broke. She told the Lowell (Mass.) Sun she waved down a passing plow and explained it was her wedding day.

Angel Nunez stood with one foot on the bottom step of his row house in Jersey City, N.J., ready to scoop another mound of snow.

Nunez wanted to clear the steps quickly, and well; his upstairs neighbor is due to have a baby any day, and he wanted to make sure she could get out safely if necessary.

Jersey City only got about 5 inches of snow. But after two years of shovels getting dusty and people forgetting what a typical Jersey winter is like, the snow came as somewhat of a surprise.

"We got a little spoiled from the last few years of not having as much snow. So it comes as a little bit of a shock, but it's February, so we should be expecting it," He said.

"But I think this is enough. This will do it for the rest of the year for me."

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The storm didn't stop the chic from attending—and dressing the part for—New York Fashion Week. At the Nicole Miller show, blogger Stephanie Ospina, of New York, was wearing her pointy-toe stilettos pumps with bare legs.

She thought about not going to shows Friday but decided "I'm going to go to as many as I can. New Yorkers are that way."

She did wear boots—not quite snow boots since they were 3-inch wedge heel shearling boots to the Lincoln Center tents—and changed once she got inside.

Alyssa Montemurro, 22, said her 4-inch heels were a workplace necessity. She didn't bring boots.

Why? "I am 5-foot-3 on a good day, and when you're interviewing models backstage it's best to be somewhere near their face level."

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In Boston, one 16-ton city snowplow almost got stuck on one street and had to pull back while a frontend loader was called in to clear it.

"This is bad, this is really bad," said the plow driver, Domenic DePina, who has worked for the city public works department for more than four years.

Complaints could be heard on the plow's communication radio about people around the city shoveling or blowing snow back into the street, which officials warned against.

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A pirate flag snapped in the gale-force winds outside Eileen O'Brien's house in Sagamore Beach, Mass.

O'Brien stood outside in the gusts, trying to clear heavy snow from her deck for fear it might collapse.

The town was without power, and O'Brien said the temperature inside was falling fast.

"My thermostat keeps dropping," she said. "Right now it's 54 inside, and I don't have any wood. There's nothing I can do to keep warm except maybe start the grill and make some coffee."

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Scott Bauer and his wife, Stacey, were digging out from several feet of snow at their rental house in Fairfield, Conn., near the shore. It's their second rental home they've lived in since Superstorm Sandy destroyed their home.

Bauer, who is 40 and in medical sales, said they plan to build a new elevated house and hope to move in by October.

They didn't lose power or get flooded in this storm, and Bauer, who has two sons, was upbeat, noting his family is healthy and are rebuilding.

"We've already been through the up-and-down rollercoaster of emotions with losing our home and the kids moving twice now," he said. "I think they are hardened by the storm, so they're definitely a little tougher now, and they realize that this really isn't that bad."

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Mike McNamara, 55, chief operating officer of a Bronx charter school, left his downhill skis in Colorado when he moved to New York recently.

"But I brought my cross country skis—just in case there was enough snow in New York City, like I'd seen on TV."

That day came Saturday. The Pennsylvania native flashed a grin as he pushed off with his poles across Central Park's Sheep Meadow.

The 15-acre preserve, blanketed with nearly a foot of snow, became a playground for frolicking dogs and for children building snowmen and making angels under a bright sun.

But this was still New York City, "and it's hard to find a spot that's not fenced in." That includes Sheep Meadow, its fence topped with snow against a postcard-perfect view of Manhattan's skyline.

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Forget shopping for groceries or shovels. At one store in Abington, Mass., people had one thing on their mind: a drink.

Customers were lined up 10 deep ahead of the storm at Rosie's Liquors, snapping up 30-packs of beer, bottles of wine and every single bottle of Captain Morgan Spiced Rum.

Manager Kristen Brown said the store had five times its typical sales Thursday and Friday.

"It has been crazy," Brown said. "We've been absolutely slammed. It's almost been like Christmas here."

"A lot of people are saying, 'I'm going to be stuck with my family all weekend. I need something to do.'"

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